TV Guide Spring Preview - Smart Design, Informative Articles

I have been waiting for this issue to arrive since my shows went off the air last season and then unexpectedly, all nice and thick, 70 something pages of it arrived in my mailbox. Finally, I’d get the DL on my shows, all bundled up in a shiny new issue of TV Guide Magazine.

TV Fans - you don’t want to miss this March 1st to 7th issue of TV Guide Magazine. The issue gives readers the scoop on 43 new and returning shows.. as it says, right there on its cover - “SCOOP ON 43 NEW AND RETURNING SHOWS!” Not sure if the designer had a mission to target different audiences with the selection of cover photos, but whoever designed it, did a great job at using different celebs who appeal to different audiences. See, first image. Very clever.

I couldn't hardly contain my excitement as I turned to the first page. You can rely on finding what you are looking for with TV Guide Magazine because it’s always right there in a clear, concise contents.

“What should I read first?” I asked myself before I scrabbled through to find some stuff on my favorite shows. Even the ads in this magazine are catchy and smart.

I can go on for days examining and writing about each page’s design in this magazine because they are so reader/designer friendly. For your sake and mine, I’ll just go with the pages I love..

Steal Their Style - Page 15
Finally, a magazine which prints styles normal every day people can wear. Who can afford that $4,990 coat Alicia in “The Good Wife” is wearing? I’d like to see how normal people can afford to steal the look - Steal Their Style for Less, at a Fraction of the Cost is what I’d change this to.



Parenthood Spring Preview, ads and all: It’s layout appropriately reads like pages from a family scrapbook. It’s easy to figure out right away what the show is about and what you may get from the article. If you are into family shows, you’ll read it. If family shows are not your thing, you'll look it over because you can't help but not to from the cool typography in the heading, whether you realize it or not.

More Cool Typography: “Preview” text on page 26. The colors in “preview” flow with everything else on the page and the pull on the letters gives the title some extra funk.


Special Delivery Title - Page 48
In pink and blue - Pam and Jim are having a kid on The Office. Pink and blue are universal colors for a girl and a boy. Get it? Also due to the bouncing effect with the "i" in a simple sans serif font.. which has dots bouncing onto the next page, there’s excitement. The reader wants to see where the bounce is headed.. right over to the next page.. oh look, now you're suckered into reading more of the article or at least looking at. But, that article has have some good stuff because there is a fun design, thus, the show can’t be boring, or so we can assume. Check out TV Guide Magazine's Spring preview issue, ON SALE NOW and see for yourself. :)